The funds Maribyrnong Boomerang Bags received from the Community Pitch have allowed us to have our 5 donated sewing machines fully serviced and repaired.  Being vintage machines that have not been used for quite a long time prior to being donated, these machines really needed an expert touch.  Unfortunately one machine needed a part that is no longer available from the manufacturer, so we are trying to source that part online or from another vintage machine that isn’t working. It’s wonderful to have the funds to purchase that part when we find it!

We’ve also been able to buy more screen printing paint to hold a screen printing bee (photos attached) where we printed 77 Bought to Support pockets and 136 Borrow and Bring Back pockets, made 4 no sew t-shirt bags and cut out 406 pockets ready for printing.

We have printed posters for the fabric drive run by Seddon Community Bank, which gave Seddon Boomerang Bags a good amount of fabric as they get up and running.

We’ve also been able to buy an electric fabric cutter, which will be a great boost to our efficiency as it allows us to cut out multiple bag pieces at a time, much faster than we can do by hand. Image attached of the cutter in action!

The remainder of the funds will allow us to secure our current sewing bee venue at West Footscray Neighbourhood House until the end of the year. Alongside that, we have found an additional venue at Maidstone Community Centre where we’re running fortnightly sewing bees on Wednesday evenings.

– Amy Maxwell, Boomerang Bags, Maribyrnong